So about this whole Podcast thing.

Yes, I know I’m a bit late to the party. Especially since I’m actually on a podcast or two a week by default and have been for at least the past year or so.

But those podcasts are live video hangouts on air that get re-purposed into podcast format. So until I stumbled across a few key podcasts I never really connected it.

But now the whole podcast world has been opened up to me.

What is responsible for this transformation you wonder?

I will share the podcast responsible for this below.

But first…

I’m still sorting through the various craft beer podcasts out there. And so far I haven’t quite found that one show yet that I just need to listen to every week. Part of the craft beer experience for me is lost when listening to someone review a beer without any visuals. No matter the great descriptions and reviews I still miss not being able to see what the beer looks like.

So I’m looking to you for some great craft beer podcast recommendations.

I listen to a whole host of podcasts in the social media realm which consist of me bouncing between various ones to study delivery, content and technical production. Hopefully out of those will come some that will go onto my Must Listen To list.

I came across Madalyn on Twitter a few weeks ago. I think it might have been in a Twitter Chat, I can’t recall exactly. But I soon learned she’s all about how to #TwitterSmarter. She can be found on Twitter posting using the #twittersmarter hashtag.

To go along with her podcast she has started a weekly Twitter Chat of her own now and it is a lot of fun with a lot of great ideas and tips being shared all around.

I’ve been on Twitter for years but only recently in the last month or two have I really begun to get into it. I’m meeting a lot of great people and diving into a ton of great conversations. And Madalyn is always there to interact with and to learn from.

If there’s one thing I rarely do it is sign up to someone’s email newsletter. I’m just not that kind of person. Normally.

However, there are a few people who have managed to get me to go to their websites and manually seek out and fill out my request for their newsletter. Chris Brogan is one such.

I’m pretty new to Chris even though he’s obviously very well known. But there’s something about him that resonates. Perhaps its the general kindness he so effortlessly exudes.

There’s something to be said about the intrinsic value of someone who manages to convey their thoughts and ideas and motivate you and wrap it all up in such a way that you feel like you’re instantly welcomed.

I would be remiss if I didn’t give a shout out to one of my personal favorite podcasts.

Steak N Egg is a podcast from my cousin Heather and her son Mason.

They cull through the vastness of the Internet to find goofy and interesting headlines and dive into the content sight unseen live on their podcast.

And it is that spontaneity and their live unguarded reactions, along with their back and forth, that make this such an entertaining show.

You experience what each article is actually about right as they do all the while goofing on all the wonderful craziness of humanity. Started in 2014 here’s their most recent episode (as of this writing). So check them out. They are hysterical and not just because they are family.

Up above I promised to share the podcast responsible for my new love of this medium.

Copyblogger‘s Rainmaker.FM hosts a group of outstanding podcasts. And here we find that one show that opened up the podcasting joy for me. First as a listener and second as a prompt to become a podcaster.

Hosted by Demian Farnworth, Rough Draft focuses on the writer, teaching how to retool your writing for the web. Be it blogging, copywriting, etc, if it’s writing for the web, Demian will guide you through the whole process.

Perhaps my favorite part of this podcast is Demian’s absolute love of language, his obsession with words. He revels in finding just the right words to grab the reader/listener and never let go.

He not only teaches with facts and concrete examples. Demian regales with stories historical, anecdotal, biographical and fictional. And throughout you are borne along, transfixed and transformed by the end of each roughly four minute episode, left informed, excited and eager for more.

On my drive to and from work I dive into Rough Draft, transforming the mundane travel into a wonderland of learning and enjoyment.

I don’t know what I’m going to do once I finally catch up to the current episodes and have to wait for new ones.

I leave you now, headed off on a business trip where I hope – in the midst of a mad week long marathon of work – to discover new wonders that will find their way onto this weekly web and podcast series.

For now I’m just trying to shake off that Mickey Rooney “Hey let’s put on a show!” feeling while I continue diving into this wonderful, challenging thing called podcasting.

And once again, please share with me your favorite podcasts. I’m eager to devour as many as I can to learn. And I’m always fascinated by what moves and attracts others.

I’ve been writing for a long time but mostly science fiction and fantasy. I have a series of rough drafts of a ten thousand year history of a civilization, centering around the escapades of five royal families. So when I became involved online the desire to blog seemed like an obvious choice.

I’ve had some form of blog for a long time. I created my LiveJournal account back in September 2007. Heading there you will see I haven’t posted content in quite some time. That’s due to the purpose of my LiveJournal account. It was there as sort of a quasi journal revolving around my sci-fi/fantasy writing hobby and as a way to interact with many of my favorite authors.

My foray into regularly blogging came with my introduction to and eventual joining Craft Beer Nation. In my role there as a Hangouts On Air Technical Producer – where I run the bells and whistles of the Google Plus HOA environment – I blog about each upcoming episode of our two weekly Live Shows.

One thing I’ve learned once I began blogging with the intent of there being an actual reading audience is just how much of a completely different beast this form of writing is. I’m used to very long form writing where it takes six hundred plus pages to tell a story.

Blogging, however, needs to be crisp and concise. I need to get my point across in an informative and enjoyable way. It’s something I suspect is going to take me a while to really get the hang of.

So that’s what I’m learning to do. Hopefully. 🙂

Which brings me to this week’s Wonderings focus:

BLOGGING

Banner – CRAFT BEER

If you do a search for “Craft Beer Blogs” your search engine of choice will provide you with a whole host of choices. It takes a while to comb through them to see there are various kinds of craft beer blogs.

Craft Beer Websites

Some are full blown websites that center around the craft beer industry where a blog is but one component. These sites are dedicated to craft beer news and to sharing knowledge about the craft itself.

Some examples:

When visiting CraftBeer.com, you can expect to learn about all aspects of the amazing craft-brewed beer from America’s small and independent producers—not just how to better enjoy the beverage in your glass, but about the individuals and processes behind your beer.

Nearly four years after it began, BeerPulse is now the web’s #1 destination for beer news. It is one of the fastest-growing beer sites on the web today, serving over 200,000 visitors a month. Both beer drinkers and industry members follow our coverage focusing on small breweries, the more dynamic part of the industry. Anheuser-Busch, MillerCoors and the like get their fair share of front page time.

Craft Beer Blogs

Some websites are craft beer blogs where they are relaying their personal experiences with craft beer. Some of these highlight the craft beer happenings in their local area.

Others are dedicated to reviews of all of the craft beers they drink.

There are so many different ones out there and their value to the craft beer drinker is a very subjective thing. After all, everyone’s experience with a particular craft beer or craft beer style is unique. In the end it might come down to the personal writing/reviewing style of a particular blog site.

Craft Beer Nation’s website is a blog mostly centering around our Live shows. We are looking towards the future with an eye on turning it into a full blown website. But that’s another journey. One being shared by a group of us together.

Which is where this whole blogging thing comes in and my personal challenge to myself to teach myself this kind of writing. This kind of storytelling.

It’s in my nature to research something new. To really dive deep into it. So I’ve combed the Internet to look at a whole host of blogs. And I didn’t limit myself to craft beer blogs either. I’m interested in the art of blogging itself. If there’s one thing social media is good for it’s finding people who make a living by telling other people how to do something.

This site is dedicated to helping other bloggers learn the skills of blogging, share their own experiences and promote the blogging medium.

I started ProBlogger in September 2004 mainly because I wanted to keep a record of what I was learning about blogging for money and because I wanted to connect with other bloggers making money from their blogs. Since then I’ve added well over 7000 articles, tips, tutorials and case studies to my archives here.

Darren also has a new ProBlogger Podcast which I’ve started going through. Since I’ve begun to add a companion podcast to this weekly blog series I’ve begun to dive into the podcasting world. I’ve been scouring online for various podcasting blogs and listening to a host of all different kinds of podcasts to begin to learn that medium as well.

I’m hoping my blogging will help my podcasting and vice-versa. They seem like good companion pieces and should help me progress.

My challenge to myself this year has been to get myself out there. To participate and engage more. To get more personal and to share my experiences and opinions. I’ve spent a long time on social media being an observer, soaking up information. My outward demeanor is often one of quiet observer.

Now I’m challenging myself to be more involved. To climb out on that bridge. Wait a minute you might be thinking. Isn’t it climbing out on that limb?

For me I’m sticking with bridge. A limb implies you’re out there alone. Putting myself out there and engaging online is much more a form of climbing out on that bridge. The end result is to make meaningful connections with people. There’s no one but yourself out on a limb. A bridge connects.

And hopefully along the way I’ll learn new skills and make new impactful friendships. Which will then lead to more blog posts and podcasts.

This week’s Weekly Wonderings is a How To episode. From Craft Beer to LinkedIn to Periscope. And for the aspiring writers, my favorite writing podcast are all featured on Weekly Wonderings 005.

Do you know how to clean your glassware properly?

Can you spot a beer glass that hasn’t been cleaned well? Have no fear and head on over to the Sixpoint Blog and check out their Beer Clean Glassware. Here’s a snippet:

Wouldn’t it strike you as tragic, if something like dust, or a spot of dish residue, compromised all this? Dude, you can’t mess this up! A glass that isn’t “beer clean” messes with head retention, banishes aroma, and compromises mouthfeel. The look isn’t right either — almost every beer deserves a healthy foam capper to keep oxygen out and aroma in.

How To Achieve The Perfect Craft Beer Pour

Once you’ve got that glassware “beer clean” now it’s time to let Julia Herz of CraftBeer.com teach you the perfect craft beer pour.

How To Craft The Perfect LinkedIn Profile

Is your Linked In Profile up to speed? I know mine still isn’t. Back in Weekly Wonderings 002 I highlighted an interview with Laura Virili where she provides a ton of great Linked In tips. But this week I’m concentrating on your LinkedIn Profile set up specifically.

Plan on spending serious but well spent time going through and implementing everything Mike Alton spells out for you. This could easily be a book, and in fact there is a downloadable guide. One important thing to note from Mike:

Before we jump into these recommendations, let me make one more point perfectly clear. These are not necessarily recommendations for the perfect LinkedIn profile if you’re looking for a job. I am writing this from my own perspective, as someone who is using their LinkedIn profile to connect with influencers, partners or prospects. I already have a business and I am counting on LinkedIn to help me grow that business and reach more of their nearly 200 million active monthly users.

How To Periscope

My other Social Media How To involves Livestreaming, which is quickly taking Twitter in particular by storm. If you have made the leap into Periscope or are thinking about it then head on over to Dustin W. Stout’s Periscope Pro Tips blog post. This is the second time Dustin has been featured in a Weekly Wonderings post.

Dustin will guide you through how to prepare, stream and then follow up afterwards to ensure high quality Periscopes. He breaks things down in detail and really provides you with tips and tricks for things you might not have even considered paying attention to. Here’s a quick quote:

The people who are engaging on your broadcasts are crucial in growing your platform further. You need to treat every single commenter as a valuable advocate and do all you can to develop an on-going relationship with them.

This is THE Periscope guide in my opinion.

How To: Writing Excuses

Writing Excuses

My favorite writing podcast has been around for a while and features the following writers offering guidance on every aspect of writing a great novel:

This series (now on season 10) is filled with great advice from the four above as well as guest writers. They cover everything from Theory and Techniques to Career and Lifestyle and even to demonstrations on how to implement some of their suggestions. This is a fantastic series and, if you are an aspiring author, well worth every moment.

Here’s a link to their most recent podcast episode (as of the writing of this post):

Writing Excuses 10.31: How Do I Control the Reader’s Sense of Progress?

Part of your job as a writer is to create an illusion here. An illusion of difficult progress towards a goal so that you have a satisfying ending.

One programming note: with this week’s post I have moved my publishing day for Weekly Wonderings to Monday mornings. My goal is to note things that catch my eye throughout the week and then to write up this blog on the weekend and publish it on Mondays. I have added a podcast for this blog series as well. I’ve never done a podcast before so I will be learning that process from scratch as I go.

I’m hoping the podcast will allow me to delve a little deeper into some of the content I share each week along with chronicling my own journey on social media as I learn and grow.

By moving these blog posts to a Monday publishing window I hope to also be able to share out more content from the people highlighted here throughout the week.

And that is a wrap for this week’s Weekly Wonderings blog post.

Now, if you’ve made it this far, please drop a comment below to let me know how I’m doing and if you have found anything I’m sharing of interest or of help. Your feedback is what I need to learn how to improve as I take this blogging/podcast journey. I’m a firm believer in learning by doing but I’m also open to guidance and suggestions as well.

One of the beauties of the Internet and Social Media platforms in particular is the ability to connect with people around the world. It’s easy for us to get caught up focusing on local events as our own lives often dominate our perspective. And yet, when I sit down at the computer I can explore the rest of the world.

This week’s Weekly Wonderings highlights some people and organizations from outside of the US.

Real Ale Craft Beer

Simon Martin is a prolific video beer reviewer. Residing in Cardiff(a city who’s name is instantly recognizable to the Doctor Who and Torchwood fans), Simon Martin reviews craft beer from all over the world on his Real Ale Craft Beer YouTube Channel. If you are looking for that one craft beer reviewer then Simon is your guy. His absolute love of craft beer shines through in his reviews as well as his knowledge. He makes you want to run right out to your local craft beer shop and buy that beer.

Week 3 of Weekly Wonderings brings me to Google +, a perhaps overlooked, but incredibly valuable Social Media platform. My wanderings return me back to the Social Media arena where I have enjoyed the best interaction. There I’ve made new real life friends, expanded my knowledge and have a blast interacting with so many different people in so many different circles.

In all of my interactions over on Google + it is in the craft beer arena where I first began to engage and where the bulk of my participation still resides. I’m a Craft Beer Nation Moderator and Hangouts On Air Technical Producer. I also handle some graphics and blogging for our Friday Night Hangout (about to reach Episode 167 as of the typing of this post). For how I went from stumbling across other craft beer drinkers on G+ to my current roles with Craft Beer Nation read My Road To Craft Beer Nation

We have a lot of fun as Craft Beer Nation over on G+. We run a Community that is currently over 18,000 members. We have an active group in there sharing pictures of what craft beer they’re drinking. or of their beer haul. And others share their reviews.

Our main presence on G+ however, is in our weekly Hangouts On Air. Every Thursday night at 9:30PM Eastern we host Pints and Quarts, our weekly Craft Beer Current Events show. Pints and Quarts features a live interview with leaders in the craft beer industry, from head brewers to brewery founders. We also cover topical craft beer news as well as touch on upcoming new releases and festivals. We aspire each week to give you an insight into how craft beer is doing.

Our other weekly Hangout On Air is our oldest and longest running show: Friday Night Hangout. Every Friday at 10:00PM Eastern some of our Moderators and Contributors gather together and dive into a different style of craft beer. We drink and review and discuss the style at hand. Friday Night Hangout is a very relaxed and laid back affair, and on rare occasions, can devolve into shenanigans, especially on Barleywine night. Where Pints and Quarts is professional, Friday Night Hangout is a freewheeling fun time.

You can view our most recent episode of each of these shows (as of this typing) here:

Some of our Moderators also traveled to Savor 2015 in D.C. this year where they wrangled up a list of craft beer who’s who and ran a live on air hangout for three hours, doing quick interviews with some of the top craft breweries in the US. Don’t worry though. We combed through all those hours of footage afterwards and chopped them down into each short interview session. You can find our interviews with the likes of Sam Calagione, Founder and President of Dogfish Head Brewingand everyone else here on our Savor 2015 YouTube Playlist page.

While I am there on most of our Hangouts On Air, my participation is mostly behind the scenes handling the technical aspects of the hangout so our Host and Panel can concentrate on providing an engaging show. Overall, I’m loving every moment with Craft Beer Nation.

Since this is a G+ centric post this week I’m going to give a short list here of people on Google+ who got me paying attention to social media and its importance to having an online presence in any arena.

Jeff is all about how to succeed on Pinterest by to quote his page: “adding testosterone, one pin at a time”. He hosts his weekly Manly Pinterest Tips Show and Podcast on Google+ via Hangouts on Air. You can also visit his main website for links to all of his shows.

Jeff’s beard. Go check it out.

Some people are utilizing Google+ Hangouts (whether as Event pages to gather attendees, or full blown Hangouts On Air) to tie into Twitter Chats. Here are a few that I see do this quite successfully:

Via an Event Page (without a live HOA) Buffer sets a calendar reminder for their followers to head on over to Twitter to participate in their weekly #BufferChat every Wednesday. As of the writing of this post, today was my first time participating in this Twitter hashtag chat. And going forward I plan on participating every week.

#CMGRHangout

The My Community Manager G+ Page hosts the #CMGRHangout Twitter hashtag chat every Friday at 2:00PM Eastern. This is a G+ live Hangout On Air where the viewers all engage with their commentary and input over on Twitter.

Music has a strong presence on Google+. There are many to choose from but for this week I’m going with my favorite Google+ Music Page and that is Friday Night Sessions.Founded by Sean Cowen, this G+ Page is run by a great group of people, hosting different themed music nights on Google+ where they post a slew of music videos. Their main featured night is Friday night and each week they pick a different musical theme and post videos starting around 10:00PM Eastern and they keep going, often into the wee hours. Every Friday Night is a different musical theme.

And the host doesn’t just post what he/she wants to hear, they take requests and post those videos as well. Every Friday night is a great musical journey and a great way to end of the work week.

If you’re into Metal than their Sunday night show is for you. Into Indie music? Then stop by their page on Wednesdays for their Indie Spotlight theme. Whatever music you like there’s a good chance it will show up on one of their theme nights at some point.

ScannerDrome could easily fall under many of the Weekly Wonderings categories but for me it fits the most into Science Fiction. ScannerDrome is a Google+ Page and also runs the ScannerDrome G+ Community

Run by Buyer Brown and Lola Lariscy (who is also one of our Craft Beer Nation Moderators) ScannerDrome delves into Enterntainment, Television, Movies, Books, etc, mainly from a Technology and Science Fiction viewpoint. Every week you will find Lola on Twitter under the ScannerDrome account live tweeting a whole host of science fiction television shows. Head over to their website and you will see all of the various topics Buyer and Lola contribute to. It’s an impressive list.

Over on G+ in particular, besides their G+ Community, ScannerDrome hosts a bi-weekly Hangout On Air called ScannerDromeTV – Best Part of Being Odd. This show is broken into two back-to-back HOAs. It used to be one long one but the Internet gremlins swallowed one of their shows whole never to be seen again so they’ve since taken precautions to break the content up into two shows back-to-back every other Saturday. It’s entertaining. If you’ve ever wanted some people to geek out with over science fiction shows, movies, books, etc. then this is the show for you.

Here’s their most recent show:

And that’s a wrap for this week’s Weekly Wonderings 003 – Google Plus edition. Let me know what you think of this week’s Wonderings, curated after years of wandering around Google+

If you have any G+ people, pages or communities or even collections that fall into any of the above categories that you would recommend, drop a comment below and I will be sure to check them out.

Week 2 of Weekly Wonderings is all about learning. One of the beauties of the Internet is its use as a platform for sharing knowledge. And in my wanderings this week I was fortunate to come across a series of items that certainly expanded my knowledge and thought process.

Weekly Wonderings – Craft Beer. While I am a moderator and technical hangout producer for Craft Beer Nation, I explore the craft beer world from all sorts of sources. One of my favorites is The Craft Beer Channel from overseas in the UK.

Among their many YouTube videos they have a running series called Beer School. Their most recent entry is all about barrel aging beer.

Check out the rest of their Beer School series for other entertaining and instructional shows. They also have a host of other great videos revolving around Craft Beer.

Weekly Wonderings – Social Media. I recently joined LinkedIn after years of telling myself I’ll get around to it. And now that I have I realized I really needed to dive deep into LinkedIn as a professional social media platform. Luckily for me Ande Lyons Possibility Partners, weekly Hangout On Air over on Google + (are you on G+ and if not, why not?) this week featured Laura Virili who is masterful at breaking down LinkedIn and its power as a professional medium. And along the way she’ll teach you some tips and tricks on leveraging the technical setup of your profile.

How to Make Your LinkedIn Network an Introduction Machine

Ande Lyons has quickly become a weekly favorite show of mine. She always brings such a positive experience to her shows and never fails to entertain and enlighten.

Weekly Wonderings – Technology. As part of Craft Beer Nation I am involved in Hangouts On Air, which also get turned into podcasts. And the clarity and consistency of audio levels among the various participants can vary greatly. Over at the always fantastic Geeks Life is this excellent – and quite technical – breakdown on how to fix uneven audio levels.

Weekly Wonderings – Music. This one could easily fall into a few categories. Terry Britton‘s weekly show has been running for 15 weeks now and it has to be the most interesting and unique weekly show out there. There’s technical tutorials involved, poetry, and discussions about all sorts of topics. But I’m placing this here under music as each week opens up with about an hour of instrumental music. And then there’s Terry playing some live flute. Be forewarned, plan to spend 3 plus hours on Sunday afternoons with:

Terry Leigh Britton’s Blue Juice Jubilee Variety Show! [15]

And that’s a wrap for Weekly Wonderings 002. I’m off to NYC for a long weekend am I’m sure next week’s post will include some of my time there, Expect pics of pizza and beer, among other things!

Do you follow any of the people/groups above? What are your thoughts about the videos presented here? Let me know in the comments below. And if you have any weekly shows you’d like to share let me know. Also, are there other Weekly Wonderings categories you would like me to add?

Social Media can bombard us with information overload and articles or events of note can stream by so quickly they get pushed to the background before even giving them the attention they command. So, if for myself at the very least, and hopefully of interest to you, the reader, I will be gathering together some of those interesting happenings that cause me to take note and to stop and think, here in a weekly post. My wonderings prompted while wandering, if you will.

For my inaugural Weekly Wonderings I’ve put together links to some happenings around the globe that touch upon the Craft Beer world, Social Media, and Music. Expect to see Technology and Books as other categories make appearances in the future. This week’s wonderings is video heavy but not all weekly posts will be. It all depends on what strikes my interest.

The Full Pint -BrewDog Expands To The US With Help From Anchor Brewing

As found on The Full Pint website Anchor Brewing has been the Importer for Brew Dog and looks to help provde a national distribution footprint once Brew Dog’s American location is up and running and brewing Domestically in the US.

Stone Brewing’s brilliant Arrogant Bastard campaign launches

Arrogant Bastard is my desert island beer and what I personally consider Stone Brewing‘s Flagship beer. In a brilliant and still quite mysterious campaign Arrogant Bastard has flown the Stone coop and has gone out into the world to be brewed at other Craft Breweries. What this means for Arrogant Bastard overall is still a mystery and one I will be following closely. Stone Brewing really gets how to use Social Media and is always finding creative ways to stay in the forefront of the Craft Beer conversation.

Nina Simone ranks among my all time favorite performers and now on Netflix and in theaters is the new What Happened, Nina Simone, a documentary authorized and supported by her family. This will be part of my weekend viewing. If you don’t know Nina Simone head over to YouTube and take a listen. She is a masterful performer. Here’s a concert of Nina Simone from Holland back in 1965.

And now I’m off to deep dive into Nina Simone over on YouTube.

If any of these articles catches your interest or if you have any interesting articles you want to send my way please comment below and let me know. By each of us sharing what moves us or makes us stop and think we spread knowledge and entertainment and expand our views and thoughts,